Sofa



1960 M. M. FOULKES I 2,966,203

SOFA

Filed Jan. 16, 1958 I o W,

United States Patent SOFA Margaret M. Foulkes, 17 Notch Park Road, Little Falls, NJ.

Filed Jan. 16, 1958, Ser- No. 709,376

4 Claims. (Cl. 155-112) This invention relates to articles of furniture comprising multiple seating units, and more particularly to settees and sofas capable of seating a plurality of persons.

In the past it has been found that sofas designed to seat two or more persons of different physical types have failed to provide maximum seating comfort for all users because the seats were too low and too shallow for tall, long-legged prsons, while the same seats were too high and too deep for short-legged individuals to seat themselves in comfort thereon. Moreover, persons seated in the central portions of such conventional sofas have found that the absence of convenient arm-rests detracted considerably from their seating comfort.

One object of the present invention is to provide a multiple seating unit or sofa offering two or more seating areas of different heights to accommodate individuals of different heights.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multiple seating unit or sofa offering two or more seating areas of different depths from front to back to accommodate persons of different heights.

A further object of the invention is to provide convenient retractable arm-rests for persons seated centrally on a multiple seating unit.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent to those familiar with the art of furniture construction from the following specifications and drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation view of one form of the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same form of the invention; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged, partial, sectional view of the arm-rest portion of the invention.

Figure 1 shows as one form of the invention a tiered or terraced sofa in which four seating areas or platforms 30, 31, 32 and 33 in the shape of seat cushions rest respectively upon a base which is here comprised of seatframes 11, 12, 13 and 14, all of which seat-frames are joined together and arranged contiguously at progressively decreasing heights. Seat-frame 14 rests on the floor, and seat-frames 11, 12 and 13 are supported by front legs 15, 16 and 17 respectively, these legs being of progressive- 1y decreasing lengths corresponding to the distances between the floor and the bottom of frames 11, 12 and 13. Back 18 is joined to the rear edges of frames 11, 12, 13 and 14, and is supported by corresponding rear legs, not shown. End arm-rests 19 and 20 are suitably joined to the outer ends of back 18 and end seat-frames 11 andl4.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same form of the invention, showing arm-rest 22 in its extended position.

Figure 3 shows, in partial sectional elevation, one embodiment of the arm-rest portion of the invention in its extended position. This arm-rest is adapted to be extended to support the arms of persons seated on the sofa, and to be retracted into back 18 to provide an uninterrupted flush surface to support the backs of those using the invention. One sub-combination for carrying out this phase of the invention is illustrated in Figure 3, in which Z,96fi,203 Patented Dec. 27, 1969 a hollow tube or cylinder 24 having an internally raised front end flange 25 and a rear flange portion 26 is shown joined to the bottom of a suitable recess in back 18. A second hollow tube or cylinder 27 having an internally raised flange 29 at its outer end and an externally raised flange 28 at its inner end is slidably fitted within tube 24. The outer dimension of tube 27 is selected to allow it to slide inside front end flange 25 of tube 24, while the outer dimension of rear end flange 28 is selected to fit inside tube 24 throughout its length, permitting movement in a telescoping relation between tube 24 and tube 27.

Arm-rest 22 is provided with an outer skirt 38 projecting backwardly and forming a hollow central recess adapted to accommodate tubes 24 and 27 when the armrest is in a retracted position. Inside this central recess, arm-rest 22 is also provided with a post 35 projecting backwardly and having an outer flange 36 with an outer dimension selected to fit inside tube 27. The outer dimension of the remaining portion of post 35 is selected to permit sliding movement inside outer end flange 29 of tube 27.

Arm-rest 22 is provided at its outer end with a handle 39 in the form of a ring, tab, strap, drawer pull or other suitable device. When arm-rest 22 is in its retracted or telescoped position, the user may grip this handle and pull the arm-rest out to its extended position. The armrest may be returned to its retracted position by applying pressure directly to its outer end.

The arm-rests, seating platforms, back and end armrests may be finished, upholstered, or covered, if desired, with any suitable material.

It will be seen that the invention may be constructed in various forms. For instance, all of the seating platforms 30, 31, 32 and 33 may have progressively diminishing depth from front to back, and one or more of the seating platforms may be of adjustable height. The upper edge of the back portion may be made slanting, as shown in the figures, or it may be made horizontal or stepped or discontinuous. A particular advantage of the retractable arms lies in the fact that they may be retracted and the seat cushions may be rearranged, using supplemental cushions if so desired, to provide a substantially horizontal surface upon which a person may lie. Thus it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various forms and embodiments of the invention may be constructed within the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A portable terraced sofa adapted to rest upon a horizontal surface such as the floor of a building, comprising a back-rest portion, a base portion secured to said back-rest portion and comprising at least three seat frames secured together and arranged contiguously in front of said back-rest portion, said base portion including means for supporting the seat frame at one end of said sofa with the upper surface thereof at a predetermined height above the floor, the remaining seat frames being supported with the upper surfaces thereof at heights which progressively decrease in uniform steps to the other end of said sofa, and a plurality of removable seat cushions there being at least one such cushion for each of said seat frames, and each cushion having a thickness substantially equal to the depth of the steps between the upper surfaces of adjacent seat frames.

2. A portable terraced sofa adapted to rest upon a horizontal surface such as the floor of a building, comprising a back-rest portion, a base portion secured to said back-rest portion and comprising at least three seat frames secured together and arranged contiguously in front of said back-rest portion, said base portion including means for supporting the seat frame at one end of said sofa with the upper surface thereof at a predetermined height above the floor, the remaining seat frames being supported with the upper surfaces thereof at heights which progressively decrease in uniform steps to the other end of said sofa, a plurality of removable seat cushions there being at least one such cushion for each of said seat frames, and each cushion having a thickness substantially equal to the depth of the steps between the upper surfaces of adjacent seat frames, and said back-rest portion having a top edge which progressively decreases in height above the floor from said one end of said sofa to said other end to provide back-rest areas of substantially equal height for each of said seat frames.

3. A sofa as defined in claim 2 having a plurality of recesses provided in said back-rest portion located between and above each contiguous pair of said seat frames,

and an adjustable telescoping arm rest mounted within each ofsaid recesses, each of said arm rests being adapted to be telescopically extended to an operative position projecting forwardly from said back-rest portion and being adapted to be telescopically withdrawn inside said recess, thereby bringing the outer end of said arm rest substantially 'flush with the front surface of said back-rest portion, said recesses and the telescoping arms therein being located at diminishing heights with respect to the floor substantially corresponding with the decreasing heights of said seat frames.

4. A sofa as defined in claim 2 having a fixed arm rest secured to each end of said base portion, the fixed arm rest adjacent the highest seat frame having a top surface located at an elevation above the floor which is higher than the elevation of the top surface of the fixed arm rest adjacent the lowest seat frame to provide substantially identical elevations of each of said top surfaces with respect to the seat frame to which it is adjacent.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS 187,932 Sullivan Feb. 27, 1877 760,236 Nilson May 17, 1904 1,173,969 Horance Feb. 29, 1916 1,405,108 Friedlander 4 Jan. 31, 1922 1,641,249 Blumental Sept. 6, 1927 1,714,645 Taggart May 28, 1929 2,634,181 Hunt Apr. 7, 1953 2,719,066 Budzinski Sept. 27, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,126,378 France July 23, 1956 

